Justin Halpern - and His Father's Words - Create Internet Sensation
Disclaimer : Article contains links to graphic materialIn a world where celebrities on Twitter seem to be par for the course, an internet sensation of a site called S___mydadsays has gained enough attention to be transformed into a television comedy by execs at CBS. So how did this come about? Simple. A series of tweets were posted by Justin Halpern, age 29, a guy living at home. Of course, plenty of guys who live at home probably post to Twitter every day.
So what sets Justin's posts apart? Turns out that he posted the words his father said, often laced with obsenities (hinted at by the Twitter account name). His father, Samuel, is 73 years old and his words are direct - and yes, often filled with the word S--- when not using even stronger words.
Once Justin started posting his father's tweets, it didn't take long for the site to take off. It now has 764,971 followers and will probably have even more soon. Before it caught the notice of television execs, I'd heard of the site, alerted by some people who wanted to know if I'd seen it.
Some thought it was a hoot. Others thought it was disgraceful. All wanted me to check it out. So I did. I found it interesting that Justin followed only one person, shown as levarburton (a verified account) Meanwhile, tons of people followed Justin, proving that the right material can attract followers even if the favor isn't returned.
CBS Slated to Create Series Based on S__mydadsays - Creators of Will and Grace Will be Producers
While CBS is slated to create the series, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, creators of Will and Grace, will act as executive producers. This could be quite a coup for Twitter as well since it could create a strong revenue stream. It is the first leap from Twitter account posting to sitcom, based on what I could discover. Twitter has been under scrutiny by some who wondered if it could create cash flow, in spite of its success and in spite of celebrities flocking to the site in the last year.
Creator of S___mydadsays, Justin Halpern, has been Writing Down His Father's Words Since Childhood
Comments
Pontius
(Guest)
(Guest)
12/18/2009
What's great is the fact that behind all the vulgarity, there's years of wisdom...and some fantastic metaphors. (ie. 'Everybody's broke, so here's the rule for Christmas this year; if you still sh*t your pants, you get a present. Otherwise tough sh*t.')
While some of the observations and advice could be cleaned up and retain some entertainment value, the vulgarity is largely what makes it funny. So actually molding it into a series of (quality) 30 minute TV shows will be EXTREMELY difficult to pull off.
And like most quality material, once it receives network treatment, it will be about as appealing as the feces created when shame eats too much stupid.
I admit it I am a follower of this one! It is rather amusing. :)
:)
Fun maybe :)
Call me a Luddite - I don't 'tweet' so I guess I will miss this one - though I admit it sounds kind of interesting!
Huh ... I wonder what his dad says about that. Great article! Love the idea to tweet his dad's words...
Interesting and a good read.
I just read a blog post about that Twitter acct, then went and read some of his posts which are truly funny. I picture an Archie Bunker type "Dad". Kudos to him for getting a TV show, and since I loved the writing from Will & Grace, I might actually check this one out :)
Somebody had a really good idea. It's a way to focus on internet life and be interesting at the same time. What a take!
:D
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